Aequus
by ranDUMM
Summary: Two lovers apparently going for broke; they ignored their friends, their grades, all that mattered was each other. What Elle didn't realise, was that it was all a plan. A plan to leave her broken. OC, slight AU, much Angst
1. Prologue

Elle didn't really think about falling in love, not really. She knew one day she would fall in love, and get married and have kids and then grandkids, but right now, at Hogwarts, falling in love and getting married seemed an eternity away.

Often, when her and her friends gossiped about the Slytherins, they would groan and declare that they would rather die than to date one of them, or if one of them had detention with Filch, they would complain and whine and beg each other to present their dead bones to their mothers so that they could have a proper burial.

However, Elle never really thought about actually _dying_. Sure, You-Know-Who was a huge threat now-a-days, ever since the Potter boy had broken into the Department of Mysteries. However, Elle had the notion that she would only die when she was nigh of a century; after all, she was only about to enter her seventh year! She was of course, scared that You-Know-Who or his Death Eaters would come calling and possibly torture her, but dying? Come on, she wasn't going to die!

So little, naïve, childish Elle had a fairytale notion that she would grow older and older with her spouse, the one man whom she loved, a daring Gryffindor, and that they would finally die peacefully together in their sleep, surrounded by bluebirds, and soft music, and the sweet chirping of their dozens of grandkids.

Oh, how lovely her notion was.


	2. Sorting

Sorting

"Jay, stop staring at him."

"I am _not_ staring at him! That's you, in case you didn't notice."

"Excuse me, I don't go around staring at every drool inducing hot guy I see."

"I'll see it when I believe it."

"Shut up _Laura."_

"Oh, now you've done it," chuckled Maggie. Jay went red.

"Excuse me _Elena Therese Di Luigi._"

"Okay, both of you stop it," intervened Maggie, knowing that when Jay and Elle used full names, it could get quite dirty, owing to the fact that both of them despised their names with a passion.

Laura Jayce Thompson, Elena Therese Di Luigi and Margaret Jeffery, who preferred to be called Jay, Elle and Maggie, as it made them sound younger, were three of the very best friends Hogwarts could ever find. While their names might have not been normal, their school was something quite out of the ordinary; one might even go so far as to call it odd. Unbeknownst to Muggles, they studied the deep and precise art that was magic.

"Anyways, he's not that hot," dismissed Maggie. Jay and Elle goggled at her.

"What do you mean he's not hot?"

"That is the one definition of hot!"

"Only according to you. Besides, it's not like he would go out with any of us," said Maggie, as they turned away from him and headed into the Great Hall.

"How would you know?" demanded Elle as they slipped into their house tables, waiting for the first years to arrive.

"He is a typical Slytherin-" began Maggie, before she was cut off by her other two companions.

"Someone as hot as _that _could _never _be in a house as slimy as Slytherin!"

"Don't get so worked up Elle," smirked Jay. "She just knows that she'll have no chance with him; he'll always only be looking at us."

"I wouldn't want a Slytherin looking at me," said Maggie loftily, just as Professor McGonagall arrived with the first years straggling behind her. A particularly tiny red haired boy caught Elle's attention. He was scuffing his foot into the floor with his head down.

"Abula, Stefan." A dark-skinned, lanky boy walked up to the sorting hat and tried it on, the hat coming to a rest over his huge ears. The Hat considered it for a while, and the boy looked increasingly nervous, however, after a few seconds, the Hat split in half and yelled out for the whole Great Hall to hear…

"RAVENCLAW!" The Ravenclaw table erupted into cheers, as the relieved boy ambled off there to find a seat.

"Asterbaum, Colleen." A young girl with blonde pigtails walked shakily up to the hat, but at this point Jay became bored with the proceedings, swivelled around in her chair and continued from their earlier discussion.

"So anyways, Maggie's right, that guy's a dead Slytherin. A guy like him won't survive in another house. Even if he did miraculously make it into Gryffindor or Hufflepuff or something, he's just not my type."

Elle snorted.

"As if he's not your type. I'm not going to back down. He won't be in Slytherin… I can feel it in me. He's just looks so sincere."

"Looks can be deceiving," admonished Maggie. "Vicky Hale is _gorgeous_, but she's a real-" She said something that she wouldn't have dared utter in front of one of the professors, but one of the sixth year prefects with bushy hair turned around and clucked her tongue disapprovingly.

"Look, here comes the new guy!" Just as Jay had announced, the handsome guy walked up to Professor McGonagall.

"Since one of our students' unfortunate death a few years ago," she blinked a few times here. "We have a new student here, from Wales; Conway, Evan!" The boy smiled at all of them endearingly, and Maggie felt Elle and Jay sigh from their places next to her.

"Mr. Conway has been sorted into Slytherin." The Slytherin table exploded with cheers, as Evan sauntered over to it, sitting next to an enthusiastic third year. The cheer was punctuated by many yells of "_What?!_"s and "No ways!"s and "He can't be a Slytherin!"s, all of which came from love-struck girls from the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables. The sorting continued as people whose surnames were after 'c' were sorted, but the three friends turned back to their conversation about him.

"Told you so!" crooned Maggie in a sing-song voice. Jay was pretending that she didn't care that he hadn't been sorted into Gryffindor (even though she had yelled out in anguish herself), however Elle wasn't bothering to hide her despair that her knight in shining armour had been sorted into Slytherin. She had a desperate look on her face as she defended him.

"The Hat's rigged! He's not a Slytherin, not really! Just look at him, he's so sweet! He's got such a good personality!"

"You've never even talked to him," scoffed Jay. "You're being so shallow; you've fallen in love with him just because of his looks!" Elle didn't talk to Jay for the rest of the sorting. As soon as it was over, piles and piles of dishes appeared on the five tables; Jay immediately started stuffing herself with chops and pie, Elle began taking dainty bits of a salad (she was on a strict diet) and Maggie struck up an animated conversation with Selena, a girl that shared a dorm with them.

Through out, the conversation revolved around a few main topics; the horrors of You-Know-Who's starting rein, everyone's holidays, Quidditch, and of course, Evan Conway.

"You think England'll be in the running this year, you know, with You-Know-who and all…?" asked Selena's friend, Carmella, a Quidditch-crazy, Muggle-born brunette. A fifth-year girl entered the conversation unexpectedly. She was standing behind Carmella, holding a strange assortment of food, and smiling serenely. The girl was blonde, and had the air of a distant and dreamy personality.

"England isn't allowed into the Quidditch Cup anymore; didn't you know that?" she asked, her eyes big, and her voice calm and collected.

"No!" exclaimed Maggie, who indeed, had not heard of this.

"England's team has been befuddled and bamboozled by the Snigglepucks, all because their lead chaser is a vampire." Carmella, Selena and Maggie all stared at the strange girl in disbelief.

"What on earth are Snigglepucks?" asked Selena.

"They're strange creatures that do torment the mind if, say you belonged in some type of team, one member of that team is not human. The torture is quite bad; Evanna Longleech went mad because of it."

"Evanna Longleech was mauled by a hippogriff," pointed out Maggie, but the strange girl's eyes bulged and she started shaking her head side to side.

"She was mauled by a Crumple Horned Snorkack _after_ she went mad, which made it all the more sad!" Carmella opened her mouth to say something, but Maggie interrupted her.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Luna Lovegood."

"Well Luna, if we ever get the irresistible urge to prove someone wrong, we'll be sure to call you." The strange girl smiled vaguely and disappeared off to the Ravenclaw table.

"That poor kid," said Selena, grinning. Still chortling, the three of them returned to their previous conversation.

When the feast ended, the headmaster, Professor Dumbledore got up to talk to the Great Hall. The three girls remained resolute, and while they did listen to Dumbledore's speech, they didn't really take it in.

That is until; some of the more … odder announcements came across.

The first thing that struck the friends as unusual was the blackened hand on his right arm. Elle even forgot to be mad at Jay so that they could gossip about it, as the Great Hall broke into terrified whispers.

"What on earth happened to his hand?!" exclaimed Jay, looking horrified.

"I have no idea," whispered Elle, aghast.

"It looks like a curse… a very bad one…" said Maggie, scrutinising the hands of her headmaster, but he quickly shook his sleeve down.

The second piece of disturbing news was not in fact the blanket ban on Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes products; it was that the new teacher, Slughorn, was a Potions teacher. Which meant Snape was the new Defence teacher. There was uproar at his words, as everyone thought the same thing.

"He's been rooting for that position ever since he started here!" exclaimed Mark, a fair skinned boy in their year. "What the hell is Dumbledore doing, giving it to _him_?" However, Dumbledore held up a hand to silence the Hall, and with much difficulty, dismissed them all.

**A/N: Yayyyyy ! I quite like this first chapter! In my mind, it really sets out a base for the whole story. THANKYOUU to Jazz E. Roisin, my awesome beta, who has found the time to beta this for me. :) Remember EVERYTHING you read! It shall be very important in the future, like Evan Conway, Luna Lovegood, the little red-haired boy, Elle's and Jay's fight… The story wouldn't exist without them :)**

**BONUS to anyone who gets the reference to a Harry Potter actress :)**

**Thanks guys, as always, don't hesitate to tell me what you thought! Just so you guys know, the first 'chapter' is the prologue. **

**Forever writing and reading… ranDUMM**

**Update: I originally had both Hermione (the bushy haired prefect who gives Maggie 'the look' for swearing) and Luna in the same year. So she is officially in sixth year now. If it's not clear for some reason, Elle, Maggie, Jay, Selena, Carmella, Mark and Evan Conway are all in their SEVENTH year. :)  
**


	3. Potions

**Chapter 2**

_Potions_

The biting chill that arrived for most of the school year had not arrived yet, and the students were enjoying their first days of term without scarves stifling them, and several large heavy jumpers adding bulk. Several of the girls were brave enough to forego their long stockings, and instead pulled on their grey socks. Their hesitation was for nothing however; the day turned out bright and sunny, sending warmth through the castle, though the dungeons could never be classified as anything but cold.

That morning in their dormitories, the five girls gossipped happily about everything and nothing, while they got ready.

"I heard Cho Chang and Harry Potter broke up!" said Selena, her voice muffled as she pulled a jumper over her head. Carmella snorted.

"That's old news Selena! Where were you for most of last year? They broke up, because Chang was jealous of _Hermione Granger_!" declared Carmella. The girls gasped.

"Hermione Granger?" asked Elle in disbelief. "How is that even possible? She has such bushy hair, and she's a know-it-all!"

"Don't be quick to judge, Elle," admonished Maggie. "She's really quite nice! She's _very_ smart, I heard she was already doing NEWT standard work last year, you know for that club thing…"

"Ohh, I remember! That was when Marietta had spots all over her! That was really mean of Granger to do that!" exclaimed Selena, now brushing her hair.

"Hermione Granger?" asked Jay, coming out of the bathroom. "She's quite nice, though I heard she's a stickler for rules." Various noises issued from the room.

"Rules?" snorted Elle. "She breaks the rules every bloody day with Potter and Weasley! Remember in our second year, when they tried to raise a dragon, and they got 150 points off Gryffindor?"

"That wasn't Weasley," pointed out Carmella fairly. "That was the Longbottom kid, you know, whose parents were tortured into insanity by Lestrange." The mood suddenly darkened in the room, as everyone's thoughts echoed one another; You-Know-Who.

"Those Slytherins shouldn't be allowed here," muttered Selena darkly. A high pitched squeak emitted from Elle as she dropped her shoe. Her face was bright red as she bent to pick it up. "Not all Slytherins are bad!" she said embarrassedly, once her voice was capable of sounding somewhat human, and not like a mouse. Maggie groaned, and Jay rolled her eyes.

"You're not _still on_ about him are you?!" asked Jay disbelievingly. Carmella and Selena immediately stopped what they were doing and turned to Elle, eager for the gossip.

"Who's this guy you're talking about?"

"Does he _like_ you?"

Carmella gasped.

"_Was it summer love_?" Carmella and Selena immediately made kissing noises with their lips, and started giggling uncontrollably.

"Thanks a lot, _Jay_," Elle muttered venomously, before heading into the bathroom. Jay didn't appear to be offended, but looked a tiny bit smug. Maggie shook her head, smiling. Within a few minutes, the three friends left Selena and Carmella chatting about Gilderoy Lockhart, and made their way to the Great Hall for breakfast. Jay plopped down onto the bench, and started piling her plate with toast, and lathered it with marmalade. She then transferred a wad of bacon onto her plate and started wolfing it down.

As per Elle's diet, she peeled a banana; however, it was half way to her mouth when she dropped it onto her plate. Maggie and Jay gave her weird looks, until they realised what had caused this distraction. Evan Conway had walked into the Great Hall.

Maggie and Jay shook their heads exasperatedly, and continued eating their breakfast, though the banana that Elle had once again picked up never neared her mouth.

_He's so gorgeous! _She thought, sighing. _His hair's messy and in his face, his casual laughter as he talks with Malfoy… _She took a sip of orange juice, but at that moment he straightened and flashed a toothy smile her way.

She choked, and all the juice was sprayed onto the food in front of her.

"He smiled at me!" she squealed, oblivious to the odd stares she was attracting. "I swear it, I saw! He looked _right at me and smiled at me!_" She seemed giddy, and dangerously close to hyperventilation.

Professor McGonagall appeared then to hand them their timetables. While Jay was cleared to do Charms, Transfiguration, Ancient Runes, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Muggle Studies almost instantly, Maggie had a bit of trouble with hers.

"Ms. Jeffrey, you can go ahead with Herbology if you wish, however, that means you will have to sacrifice another subject. You already have a full schedule." It took a bit of convincing on Jay and Elle's part; however Maggie was soon cleared to do Herbology, Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Arithmancy and Defence, still leaving room for free periods.

"Now, Ms. Di Luigi, I suspect you are taking the same subjects as last year?" Elle nodded absentmindedly; she was watching Evan chew a strawberry.

_Gosh, he's so cute! I wonder if he likes me…_

"Ms. Di Luigi, that means taking up Ancient Runes. Professor Bathsheda has voiced her concerns in you taking this course; she believes you are not up to par." Elle made a vague noise of agreement.

_He seems so _relaxed_! If this was my first day when everyone else had already been here for ages and ages, I would be scared shitless!_

"Ms. Di Luigi!" said her Professor sharply. Elle tore her gaze away from him.

"What?" she asked, feeling irritated that her Professor had interrupted her dreaming. She immediately went red. "Err, sorry Professor."

"I was _asking_ if you still wished to take up Ancient Runes; your teacher claims you are not up to par." Dread filled Elle. She knew she hadn't really paid Ancient Runes much attention the last few years, but she _really_ did not want to muck her NEWTs up.

"I'll try harder, Professor." She said earnestly. Professor McGonagall peered at Elle over her glasses. She tapped the timetable, and passed it to her, and moved onto some fourth years.

The three of them left the Great Hall shortly. Maggie and Elle parted with Jay for Potions, whilst Jay waltzed off to get her broom and make use of her free period, with Maggie and Jay's dire warnings that McGonagall would have her head if she was late ringing in her ears. Still chortling, Elle and Maggie made their way to the dungeons.

There was hardly anyone in the corridors, as there was still a good ten minutes before class started. The only person waiting outside the dungeons was Mark. As soon as he saw Elle, his eyes turned round and he quickly looked the other way.

"Hi Mark!" Maggie said warmly. Mark waved happily, but the moment his eyes met Elle's, he turned away, flushing a deep red. Professor Slughorn arrived at that moment, and Elle was able to escape the uncomfortable feeling that was created by Mark Aberdale.

Unfortunately, he didn't feel the same way as her, and sat next to Maggie on their table of four. Slowly, other students started to trickle in, occupying the other four seaters. It was at that moment that the object of Elle's desires walked in. He was talking in hushed voices with someone in Slytherin, who if Elle strained her memory she was sure was a girl named Irena. They conversed for a few seconds at the door, before she walked back out, and he turned to sit down. His eyes swept the room, and landed at Elle.

Elle quickly turned around, and talked to Maggie, her heart beating. _Oh my goodness, I hope he didn't catch me staring at him!_ Someone tapped her shoulder. She turned and looked up.

Staring at her was Evan Conway.

"Hi," he said, smiling. _Oh my gosh, his smile is so cute!!_

"Hi," she replied, giggling nervously.

"I'm Evan Conway. I'm the transfer, from Wales." _Um, _duh_! How could I not know?!_

"Really? It's nice meeting you," _Very, _very_, nice meeting you! _"This is my friend Margaret, but you can just call her Maggie. This is Mark, a guy in our year." Evan's smile suddenly looked forced, as did Mark's. They both shook hands, though they let go quickly. Evan also shook Maggie's hand.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" he asked, smiling again. _Do I mind?! I don't bloody _mind_! I'm almost hyperventilating that you're even in my class, who cares whether I mind?!_

"Nope, go ahead." He grinned, and dropped his bag on the floor next to him. Thinking that she wouldn't make it through the class otherwise, she turned around and started talking to Maggie and Mark animatedly; Mark looked very smug.

"Alright class, settle down, settle down…" The class gradually grew quiet, until finally, all eyes were on Professor Slughorn.

"Now then, now then… scales out, potion making kits, don't forget your textbooks…" There was a flurry of activity as everyone took out the necessities for the class that day.

"Now then, now then… I've made a few potions for you all to look at, just out of interest, you know." He had puffed out his chest, so that the already straining buttons on his waistcoat looked about ready to pop. "These are the kinds of things you should be able to make after completing your NEWTs. You should've all heard of 'em. Who can tell me what this one is?" He gestured to the cauldron closest to the Hufflepuff trio at the front. It had a clear, water-like substance and consistency. Everyone craned their necks to get a better view.

It seemed that for the first time in Potions history, someone's hand hit the air faster than Maggie's. Evan Conway's hand had immediately gone up; it beat Maggie's marginally.

"Yes, you boy," said Slughorn, grinning widely.

"It is Veritaserum, a very powerful potion that forces its' drinker to tell the truth. It is colourless and odourless." Slughorn nodded.

"Well done, well done!" he exclaimed happily. He pointed to the next cauldron; it had a mud like texture; Elle pitied the person who'd have to drink it.

"Can anyone tell me what this is?" he asked. This time, Elle lifted her hand slowly, however, once again, Evan's hand had beat Maggie's.

"Polyjuice Potion, sir. It helps the user to change appearance."

"Yes, yes, excellent! And this one… yes?" asked Slughorn, looking impressed as Evan's hand punched the air once more.

"It is Amortentia, a very powerful love potion," recited Evan flawlessly. Slughorn was nodding.

"You recognized it, I suppose, by its distinctive mother-of-pearl sheen?" Evan nodded.

"It also smells differently according to each of us." Slughorn peered at him for a few moments.

"May I ask your name?"

"Evan Conway, Professor." Slughorn's eyes bulged.

"Conway, Conway… Are you possibly related to the extraordinary Yuan James Conway, founder of the Conway Foundation for Magical Arts?" There was a slight pause; Evan seemed to be battling something in his mind. Finally he answered,

"Yes sir," he answered stiffly. "He's my father." Slughorn nodded, and it appeared that he was storing Evan's face and name in his mind for later use.

"Well done, m'boy, well done! Take fifteen points for Slytherin Mr. Conway!" There was a round of appreciative murmuring from the Slytherins.

"Amortentia doesn't really create love, of course. It is impossible to manufacture or imitate love. No, this will simply cause a powerful infatuation or obsession. It is probably the most dangerous and powerful potion in this room!" There was complete silence in the room.

"Now, we shall move unto the work for today." He turned to get the textbook however; Maggie's voice pierced the air.

"Sir, you still haven't told us what's in the fourth cauldron!" She wasn't staring at the cauldron however; she was looking at Evan with triumph that she had pointed this out before him. The cauldron in question was a small black one. The potion within was splashing about merrily; it was the color of molten gold, and large drops were leaping like goldfish above the surface, though not a particle had spilled. Slughorn looked up genially.

"Oho! Yes indeed!" Elle had the strange feeling that Slughorn had not forgotten, however. It seemed that he had been waiting to be asked for dramatic effect. "Yes, this one is a curious little potion called Felix Felicis." He looked up at Conway, grinning, even though three others in the room had put their hands up as well.

"It is a potion that makes you lucky." Slughorn was nodding.

"Yes, well done, well done… five points to Slytherin. Desperately tricky to make, and disastrous to get wrong. However, if brewed correctly, as this has been, you will find that all your endeavours tend to succeed ... at least until the effects wear off." He eyed them beadily. "Today's lesson will not be rewarded; this potion will be waiting inside until one such day that I see fit to present it to you." He extracted a small vial of the potion. "Twelve hours of good luck." He pocketed it.

"Today, we shall be working in pairs to create a most difficult and fiddly potion; The Draught of Coraggio. As this is much too difficult for each of you to prepare in your first class, you will be able to work in pairs. Turn to page thirty-two of your textbooks, and off you go!" The room was filled with the sound of scraping chairs, and voices as people decided their partners.

"Partners?" The voice came from Elle's left, and she turned to see Evan staring at her. Elle looked at him, almost shocked. She had expected him to go with one of his Slytherin friends; not with her. _Yes, please! Oh gosh, _yes_!_ Though she desperately wanted to go with him, she knew it would be unfair towards Maggie.

"Hey Maggie… do you mind if I go with Ev- Conway? It's just, he asked and…" It was possible that Maggie had seen the hope and need to go with Evan on Elle's face, for she laughed.

"Yeah, go ahead!"

"Are you sure?" asked Elle. "Who will you go with?" _Someone, someone, anyone, not me! Please understand Maggie, I've got to go with him!_

"Go with him, Elle. I'll go with Mark, it's no problem." She smiled.

"Alright Maggie…" _Thank the Lord! Merlin bless you Maggie, you are awesome!_ Maggie winked at her, before turning and talking to Mark about the potion.

"Alright then," she said brightly, turning once more to face Evan. "Guess it's you and me!" He winked at her, and went to fetch the ingredients that they didn't already have for the potion from the cupboard.

It might have just been Elle, but various times in the lesson, while they were preparing their potions, he just stared at her. He wasn't openly staring, but if she was reading out the next instructions from the book, or if he was telling her the right way to squeeze her Armadillo eyes, he just looked at her. Twice she caught him slightly smiling.

Since they didn't have a double period, their potions were only half way done when there was ten minutes to go.

"You should be at the half way stage by now; drop the Ginger roots in and leave to simmer. One person from each pair please come up and get some roots…" Elle told him that she would go and get it.

* * *

He watched as she went up to collect the roots, as she waved merrily to a Ravenclaw girl. He hoped that his flirting techniques hadn't diminished. All lesson, he'd been pointedly smiling at her, staring at her and sometimes he had left his hand to linger over hers just a few seconds longer than usual.

He still had not received any reaction from her. Her answers had been short and to the point. Not that she was cold, or that she was ignoring him; she had been perfectly friendly. She just hadn't fallen head over heels in love with him like he'd hoped. What was he doing wrong? Nothing had changed between the way that he had treated the other girls and her. Yet they had immediately started swooning and giggling in that annoying way those girls do.

_At least I am going to have a girlfriend with brains. Not some useless puppet to follow my every command… that is, if she ever becomes my girlfriend. _He shook his head. He could not afford to think like that; more than his life was at stake.

A voice penetrated his thoughts, bringing him back to the Potions classroom.

"-and I probably don't have a good reason, but that Conway really gives me the jitters." His attention was successfully diverted. He turned a little (though inconspicuously; he had been trained by the best after all) to listen to the conversation better.

"He is nice and everything," He realised the speaker was the boy, Mark, the one who was making his job a lot more harder than it should have been. "I don't know… there's just something about him that doesn't seem right… Did you see him with Elle before? Flirting with her and everything…" So everyone except for Elle had noticed. _Great, that's just what I need. I'll never get a good reputation now…_

"Mark… maybe you are a bit prejudiced because you have feelings for Elle?"

"That's not the reason! I just think she should be a bit careful around him, that's all." Elle slipped into her seat at that moment, and smiled a dazzling smile at him. He sighed.

_Mark was another obstacle. This was going to take some time…_

_

* * *

_It was after Potions, and Maggie and Mark had met up with Elle outside the Transfiguration classroom. Since Mark had been present like a foot fungus ever since the end of Potions, she had not been able to discuss freely with Maggie. However, at the line to Transfiguration, Mark vanished to his friends, and Elle gladly took advantage of the precious few moments before Professor McGonagall arrived; she was even luckier because Evan was in her Transfiguration class.

"Jay!" she squealed. Jay looked at her oddly; usually she was screaming Jay's name in anger and irritation, not excitement and hyperventilation. "Jay… I've fallen in love!" There was a scuffling noise from behind them. Elle turned to see who it was, and Mark faced her. He was bright red, and he looked crestfallen.

"I… err… umm… you… are… good at transfiguration!" He retreated to his friends. They all gave him pats on his back in sympathy, whilst he punched the wall. Elle shook her head and continued talking about Evan; however Maggie and Jay kept glancing at each other. They were both thinking how sad it was that Mark had gotten rejected by Elle in such a way. They both wondered how their best friend could be so clueless, when it had been obvious that Mark had liked her since second year.

* * *

**A/N: Another chapter done! The word count went up quite a bit (actually, it almost doubled in size :)). I'm pretty proud of this chapter. THANKYOU, THANKYOU to my beta, Jazz E. Roisin, who beta-d this for me in the middle of all her exams. I shall be forever greatful :) I'd love to know what you think about this story, whether the good, or the bad :). I shall continue updating! Always reading, and writing, ranDUMM.**


	4. Partners and Broken Charm

**Chapter 3**

_Partners and Broken Charm_

"-And then he was like, well, yeah, I _know_ Mobbers got the Witch Weekly 'Best Smile of the Year" award, but he _just doesn't deserve it_, and I was like, in my head duh, I would never say that aloud 'cuz you know I would make a fool of myself but anyways I was just thinking in my head, oh screw the fact that I've always wanted Mobbers to win, 'cuz oh my gosh, I couldn't just _disagree _with him, he'd never talk to me again, so I was like, yeah, duh, I've been rooting for Stephenbree to get the twentieth 'Best Smile of the Year' award-"

Jay and Maggie rolled their eyes at each other, attempted to continue their Transfiguration homework, and tried ignoring Elle. This of course was quite a difficult feat when she was whispering into both of their ears at top speed in the library.

"-He just shrugged and said he didn't know and changed the subject. Oh no, I hope I didn't ask him anything too personal, but how was I supposed to know if he would get offended if I asked him if his father likes wearing Muggle clothes as a living?! I mean, I was just asking 'cuz my dad's fascination of them has absolutely no end, but he looked at me weirdly and I think he doesn't like me anymore! What should I do, oh gosh, I'm so screwed-"

"You _are _pretty screwed, aren't you Elle?" remarked Jay nastily. "Do you think he'll _ever_ forgive Elle, Maggie?" Maggie looked up with mock worry in her eyes.

"No, I don't think he will _ever_ forgive her! I mean, honestly, what was she thinking, asking a perfectly normal question about his father?" Jay winked at Maggie as Elle blanched.

"I seriously think your relationship is screwed, Elle," said Jay with an air of finality.

"You have no chance," added Maggie.

"Zip."

"Zilch."

"Zero."

Elle looked from one to the other, and wailed loudly, which of course caused Madam Pince to chase after them with a feather duster.

This reaction not only annoyed the three girls, but served the purpose of allowing the other seventh years peace and quiet while they struggled through their work. It was only their fourth day back, but the professors had already turned on them. The fact that the N.E. were months away had not stopped the teachers from pushing the students past the 'we're squeezing by but still being lazy" and "we're studying but not paying attention in class" stages to the "it's so difficult we have to study and not have a social life" stage. As a result, Elle, Maggie, and Jay found themselves stretched to the limits. Along with them, many of their classmates were starting to wonder just how the legendary Weasley Twins had made it through Hogwarts with all the pranking they had done.

Quite aside from their workload, another pressing problem had taken the shape and form of Elena Therese Di Luigi. It wasn't that Jay and Maggie disliked her or anything; they quite liked her, trusted her, and everything that came with being one's best friend forever, but the fact remained that all she ever talked about was that smart, cute, funny, idiot of a Slytherin; Evan Conway. It was always Evan said _this_, Evan told me _that_, _Evan_ thought my head band looked pretty on me today, so I'm just going to burn all my other headbands, blah, blah, blah. While at first, her friends had been quite supportive of her, their support turned into flat out irritation at even the slightest mention of _Evan _Conway.

"How can you be sure?" demanded Elle, as they exited the library at top speed. Maggie's only response was to sneeze. "How can you be absolutely and totally positive that he doesn't want to talk to me? How can you be sure he hates me? Quite frankly, I think he's obsessed with me-"

"Of course," muttered Jay, rolling her eyes.

"-I don't think anyone has managed to capture his attention the way I have. Did you see that third year Ravenclaw yesterday? _Smitten_ with him, but what can he do? He's obviously not going to go for someone so young and with such little class-"

"You of course, have so much class," inserted Jay once more.

"-He was just telling me the other day in fact, that he had his eyes on a girl at Hogwarts who wasn't in Slytherin, and that he didn't care for all the old prejudices, because he liked this girl, and prejudices be damned, and you know, it could really be _me_, though I daren't think so, I may just get a bit full in the head-"

"Dilligrout," said Maggie in a dull voice, as they neared the portrait hole. The three friends stumbled in through the hole, Elle pausing in her monologue long enough for all of them to scramble in. The minute Elle came in she started talking about him again, only to be interrupted by Maggie's voice.

"As fascinating as Conway is, Elle, I really have to go on my rounds." Jay narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"No you don't. You have rounds on Wednesdays and Fridays. Today's a Thursday." Maggie rolled her eyes and tipped her head in Elle's direction.

"Yes, but _she_ doesn't know that." She said in a stage whisper. Maggie winked, and before Jay and Elle could protest, walked straight out of the common room.

"So you're just leaving me alone in here with a boy crazy gypsy?!" Maggie laughed and the portrait hole closed behind her.

"Great," she snapped. "Now I'm stuck with you and your "I love Evan" tirade. _Great_. Believe me; this is right up there on my list of things to do on a Thursday after noon, right after snogging the very subject of your talk." Elle blinked at her, and stared blankly for a few seconds. Then she rolled her eyes, and plopped onto the couch.

"I don't always talk about Evan. We could talk about something else, if you want." Jay's eyebrows disappeared into her hair; a change of subject was _exactly _what she wanted.

"Like?" enquired Jay, thinking that it was way too good to be true.

"Transfiguration, for instance. Have you finished your homework yet?" Jay scowled.

"I _would _have, had you not been hissing in my ear about Gavin freaking Mobbers. Have _you _finished it?" Elle's eyes widened.

"Of course I have! I was out with Evan yesterday when you and Maggie had Herbology, and we finished the homework. Oh my gosh, he's so good at it! He knew everything, helped me with every detail. He's so smart, and he _touched my hand!_ I don't know what to think about him. I'm sure he likes me but-" She knew it was too good to be true. Someone dropped down next to her. She turned to see who it was, and was confronted with a mop of red hair.

"I… do I know you?" she asked, confused. A little pair of brown eyes peered up at her. The mop of red hair shook its head.

"I see." There was a period of prolonged silence, and then a shout.

"_There _you are! Where have you been?!" It was Jean, a fourth year. She came and dropped down next to the little boy. She looked at Jay.

"Oh, hello. You're Laura right?" Jay scowled.

"Right. Never call me Laura. I go by Jay." Jean raised an eyebrow and shrugged, then jumped up from the sofa, as though just remembering where she was.

"Well, come on, you. Irena will be wondering where you are." The little boy stared at Jay for a few more seconds, before shaking his head and wondering out of the portrait hole, trailing after Jean.

* * *

"Laura! Margaret!" Jay and Maggie stopped walking abruptly. Elle would never call them Laura or Margaret for fear of getting brain damage. Most of the Professors called them 'Miss Thompson' or 'Miss Jeffrey'. Most of the student population called them by their last names or by their preferred names; dire warnings from the older students kept them in place. And yet this unfamiliar voice had uttered the taboo names.

Jay and Maggie turned around and found themselves face to face with Evan Conway.

"What did you call me?" growled Jay. Conway looked unperturbed.

"I was wondering if you knew where Elena was." Another taboo name.

"I have no idea where _Elle _is, Conway," hissed Jay, readying for a fight. Maggie dropped a hand on Jay's arm to remind her to calm down.

"There's no need to be hostile Laura." Jay growled.

"_It's Jay!_" Evan suddenly looked around, and motioned for her to keep her voice down.

"Calm down, it's alright. Look, Laura-" Jay hissed again. "-do you know where Elena is or not?"

"We already told you that we didn't know where Elle was, Conway," interjected Maggie before Jay lost her temper completely.

"Why do you insist on calling her Elle? Her name is Elena for a reason. You're treating her like you're afraid of her, like you refer to the Dark Lord." Jay yelped angrily, and dived at Evan, but he walked away.

"Come back you imbecile! How dare you say I am afraid of my own friend! Come back and fight me!" Maggie once again put a hand on her arm, but she looked furious as well. Jay did an about turn.

"I can't _believe _he said that! Who does he think he is? Talking about Elle like that. She doesn't even like him!" Maggie rolled her eyes.

"Wake up Jay! How many times can you remember this year that Elle has been with us? She's always been with Evan. That includes the times she talks non stop about him. She's always with him, always talking about him. Of course she likes him!" Jay opened her mouth to oppose her statements, but Maggie started talking again.

"Look, that's not important. What's important is what he referred to You-Know-Who as." Jay frowned, and then a look of dawning comprehension crossed her face.

"The Dark Lord."

* * *

Elle and Evan entered the Defence classroom together after break for Double Defence on Thursday. Elle sat by Maggie and Jay, who greeted her warmly enough. The minute Evan sat next to her though, they looked at him coldly, and stared at the front, where Snape was still due to arrive.

That day's exercise was a revision on non-verbal shields. They were asked to partner up, and practise shields on each other. She stood up and smiled at both Jay and Maggie. They glanced at each other.

"Aren't you going with Evan?" asked Maggie nervously. She felt as if someone had dropped a bucket of icy water on her. She didn't always go with Evan did she? I do, she realised. She had really been neglecting her friends. She looked up to see her friends looking at her nervously, Jay shooting murderous looks at Evan over her shoulder. She hesitated.

"I'd much rather go with one of you." She said quietly. Maggie smiled suddenly, and Jay looked triumphant. Before she knew what was happening, there was a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see Mark's expectant and hopeful face.

"Partners?" She glanced at Jay and Maggie. She missed her friends, and who was stupid Mark to stop her from being their partners.

"I'm sorry," she said, as apologetically as she could. "I'd much rather go with one of them. It's not like I don't like you, it's just, I haven't been with them for a while." She turned happily to Jay and Maggie, to show them that she valued their friendship, but Maggie looked shocked, and Jay looked enraged.

"You go with Mark, Jay. I'll go with Elle." Maggie smiled softly, and led Elle away.

* * *

"What happened?" hissed Mark to Jay five minutes later. "You said she wanted to go with me!" Jay mutely sent a Jelly Legs Jinx to Mark in response, and he quickly conjured a shield. "I thought you said she liked me." Jay sighed.

"I don't know what happened okay? She didn't want to go with Evan, but I think we took it too far with the being left out factor. She just felt really bad. It isn't anything against you, honest." Mark scowled.

"That's the second time in a week that she's rejected me. I feel like a loser!" Jay sighed, and conjured a shield to match Evan's "Stupefy!"

What _had _happened? Elle had fallen for Evan, hard and fast. It was just as Maggie had described earlier.

"_It's going to be hard to convince her to like Mark," admitted Maggie. _

"_We have to do it Maggie! Conway is a _death eater_! We can't let Elle fall in his trap! Mark is a sweet bloke, and he absolutely dotes on her. It won't be hard to convince her that Mark is fifty thousand times better than that Conway rag."_

"_I know that, and you know that. But Elle has really fallen for him. Conway dotes on her too. The only difference between Mark and Conway is that Mark is too scared of rejection, so he's not bold. Conway knows he can charm her. Conway dotes on her just as much as Mark."_

"_Well, I don't care. We'll just have to tell Mark to be bold as well. It can't be that hard. Mark is way better suited for her. She just can't date a Death Eater!"_

"_Jay, she's hooked. She's not going to listen to what we say."_

But Jay had been determined. Maggie and Jay had caught up with Mark in their free period the next morning (Elle was conspicuously absent; Selena and Carmella decided that she was having an illegal affair with Harry Potter) and told him about their plan.

"_Me and Maggie will set the stage. We'll play it so that she has to say no to Evan to pair up with one of us, then you turn on the puppy dog eyes-"_

"_-Extra round and watery-" interjected Maggie._

"_-and ask her to partner with you. It can't go wrong."_

In the end, it turned out that it could go pretty damn wrong.

You can't hook up with a Death Eater, thought Jay. No matter what it takes, I will stop it from happening Elle. That's a promise.

* * *

He sat down next to Elle and her friends. They gave him weird looks, and Elle looked confused and upset. This was not good. They were supposed to practise shields in partners. He schooled his features into his best sincere look. He opened his mouth to suggest that the two of them go to the other side of the room and practise, when the Margaret girl opened her mouth to ask if she was going with Evan. He expected her to immediately say yes and blush prettily, as most girls her age would do, but she looked uncomfortable and seemed sheepish.

Shit.

She told them that she'd rather go with one of them. She was _still _immune to his charm! No matter how much time he spent with her, she regarded him as nothing more than a friend. He was about to turn and tell Irena to partner him when Mark tapped Elle on the shoulder.

"Partners?" His blood went cold. Elle looked like she had just killed Mark's son.

"I'm sorry… I'd much rather go with one of them. It's not like I don't like you, it's just, I haven't been with them for a while." She hadn't partnered Mark. She hadn't partnered him either, but she hadn't partnered Mark.

It was a start.


	5. Ready

**Chapter 4  
**

_Ready_

There was a rushing in his ears as he got the news. This wasn't possible. This couldn't be true.

"-will force us out of our homes. Tell the girl-" He felt paralysed. He wasn't ready. He didn't know her enough yet. His father looked at him expectantly. He sighed.

"Yes father."

"When?"

"Today, father."

* * *

Elle woke with an abrupt start. She'd just remembered.

She scrambled out of her bed and ran down to the Common Room. She scanned all the tables. There, on the closest desk to the fire, sat all her Ancient Runes books, and her half-finished essay that was due after break.

She breathed a sigh of relief, and dropped into the chair. She picked up her book and opened it at the correct page. She filled her quill with ink, and dragged her essay towards her.

It was already finished.

She frowned. She didn't remember finishing it. She remembered meeting Evan near the greenhouse; she remembered creeping back into her dormitory at the dead of night. She remembered doing a whole bunch of things, but finishing her essay was not one of them.

She doubted that Maggie would have done it. She was always going on about how they should be doing their own work, and how they weren't learning anything by copying each other, they being Elle and Jay. Jay always offered her essay to Elle to copy, but since Jay's essays were atrocious in themselves, and Elle barely ever used them, Jay had stopped offering.

So who would be so bothered as to finish her essay for her?

A hundred possibilities crossed her mind. Perhaps she had a secret admirer. Maybe Professor Bathsheba had finally thought Elle was catching up, and had finished her essay for her. Maybe, just maybe, she had actually f_inished _her essay last night, and she didn't remember.

Or maybe, Evan had done it for her.

Every other possibility seemed thoroughly far-fetched now, and not at all possible. She searched through her books and left over debris from the previous night, looking for a note from him. In her excitement, she knocked over her ink bottle.

Under it laid the note.

She prised it open, anticipation coursing through her veins.

_Dear Elle,_

_Your essay has been finished; I know you were planning on finishing it in your free period this morning. Cancel your plans, come walk with me. I have something important to tell you._

_Always, Evan._

She sat there, breathing heavily. She re-read it again and again, but the words never changed.

He'd written to his _dear _Elle. He'd finished his _dear_ Elle's essay. He had something to tell his _dear _Elle. He'd written _always,_ Evan. _Always. Dear_ Elle, _always,_ Evan.

"JAYYYYY! MAGGGGIIEEEE!" Elle screamed and tore up the girls' staircase with Evan's note in her hand. Sleepy people growled at her all the way up, and one even proceeded to call her an 'undignified trout'.

Elle didn't care. She was _dear _Elle.

She burst into the dormitory, and shrieked at the top of her voice.

"JAY! MAGGIE! JAY! GET UP! Get up!" Selena and Jay chucked their pillows at her. Carmella didn't move. Maggie sat up sleepily, knowing she wouldn't get back to sleep until Elle had announced to the whole world what had happened.

"Maggie, Maggie, Evan finished my essay! He wrote a note to me, he called me his _dear_ Elle-" Maggie groaned and flopped back onto her bed, irritated that Elle had woken her up just because of Evan.

"Maggie please, Maggie please, please Maggie…" Maggie didn't twitch. Elle yelled in frustration. Maggie didn't even _care_ that Evan had written her a note! How could she not? They were meant to be friends! Elle sighed. Desperate times called for desperate measures.

"Aguamenti!" Maggie screamed as she fell out of bed, completely soaked in the freezing cold water.

"ELLE!!" Elle sighed.

"Maggie, I'm sorry, but I have to go to breakfast, please, please, please-"

"Take Jay," growled Maggie. Jay sat up suddenly and glared at Maggie. If looks could kill…

"Maggie _please_!" Maggie sighed in frustration. It was pretty clear that she wouldn't be able to sleep a wink more that morning.

"All right, all right, I'm up…"

Half an hour later, Maggie and Elle were sitting at the Great Hall. There were very few people there; normal people, as Maggie put it, didn't even open their eyes before 7:30, and it was quarter past six then.

Elle felt glances at the side of her head, and finally turned to see Maggie looking at her inquisitively; the minute Elle turned to look at her, Maggie blushed and started spooning eggs onto her plate.

This happened three more times with toast, juice and marmalade. When the marmalade started running off the plate and onto the table, Elle sighed.

"What, Maggie?" Maggie bit her lip.

"Don't take this in the wrong way… but lately you haven't really spent any time with us. You've always been with Evan, or when you have been with us, you only talk about Evan. The point is," she said hastily, as Elle opened her mouth to speak. "You dragged me down here with no explanation whatsoever, and now, completely against your character, you're not talking. Even last year, before Evan came, you were always talking about _something. _I guess I'm just worried…"

Elle stared at Maggie, shocked by her selflessness. She'd been neglecting Jay and Maggie for about two weeks now. Not only had Maggie not said anything; she also worried about Elle. If it had been the other way around, Elle would have been right out ignoring her.

"Maggie… I had no idea. I'm so sorry." Maggie smiled.

"I just meant that I was worried about you. I mean, you're almost dating a-" Maggie stopped talking suddenly, and turned beet red. Elle frowned.

"I'm dating a what, Maggie?"

"Look, nothing, don't worry. What were you blabbering on about some note-" This successfully diverted Elle's attention. She recounted what had happened that morning. In the morning, she had been extremely excited that Evan wanted to tell her something; now though, she wasn't so sure. What if he didn't want to see her anymore? What if she had offended him n some way? What if she wasn't pretty? Or smart? What if, heaven forbid, she was _boring?_

"-And now I'm so scared Maggie. What happens if he doesn't want to talk to me anymore?" Elle stopped and stared at Maggie, chewing her bottom lip. Maggie sighed.

"Look Elle, I doubt that Evan has stopped liking you. It's barely been a month. Just calm down, okay? He's probably waiting for you right now! Go and meet him. Go on, shoo!" She gave a wan smile. Elle smiled nervously, jumped up and walked out nervously, jumping when Carmella waved to her.

Jay sat down next to Maggie, looking worried.

"What?" asked Maggie defensively.

"That would have been a great time to tell her that _Evan is a Death Eater_!!" Maggie looked around anxiously and made flapping gestures with her hands.

"Do you want to shout that out any louder?! I don't think someone in _Hogsmeade_ heard you!" Jay shook her head.

"This isn't the time Maggie. I'm really worried about her." Maggie sighed.

"I know, I know…" Jay imitated Maggie, and exhaled sharply.

"Look, you did a good job; at least she hasn't broken down completely; that's as much as we can hope for… for now. Listen, I'll go lend an ear to their conversation… I'll tell you what happens." Maggie studied Jay's face anxiously.

"Alright, alright." Jay smiled softly, got up, and left.


	6. A Slytherin Boyfriend

Elle nervously walked outside the Great Hall and looked around. She spotted Evan next to one of the Greenhouses. He was crouched down, and stroking a pretty lilac coloured flower that was sitting outside the door. She smiled and walked over to him.

"Hi." Evan quickly turned around, letting go of the flower. He smiled a dazzling smile, showing off his dazzling teeth. Elle almost melted.

"Hey, Elle." He held out his hand and Elle took it, revelling in the warmth of his skin.

They set off slowly around the lake. Even was constantly talking about something or the other; for the first time since she had met him, he seemed to be nervous. Elle wondered why. Every time before now, he had been completely comfortable talking about anything with her, apart from his family. Now however, he was going on about the different colours water could be.

She thought back to when Robby Whelm was going out with Selena. She came to the dormitories one evening looking extremely confused. Apparently Robby had been jittery the whole day, and had been talking about nonsense, things that she'd never even noticed before, like the texture of grass. The next day, Selena came back up to their dormitories in tears; Robby had broken up with her.

"Grass is really soft. I love lying down on a really nice, clear day, and just relaxing, not doing anything…" Elle's heart sank._ He was talking about grass. _Did this mean he didn't want to be more than friends? Was he going to say those dreaded words? _I don't think we have that spark, Elle. I just think we should be friends. _What should she say? _I was never interested in you like that, Evan. _No, that sounded too much like rejection. _Umm, duh! I already knew that! _No, that sounded too desperate.

She wouldn't wait for him to say something first. She'd take the initiative.

"Evan," she said suddenly, interrupting his tirade on the amount of iron in different vegetables. "I think I know why you called me here." Evan sighed.

"No you don't." He stopped walking and turned to face her. She raised her eyebrows.

"Really? Let me think. You're going to look at me with pitying eyes and say, 'Look, I don't think things are really going to work out between us.'"

"Elle-"

"Listen here, buddy. I don't care what you're going to say, because I don't like you anyways."

"_Elle_-"

"I'm sorry if I was leading you on, but I don't want to get into a relationship right now."

"_Elle! _I wasn't going to say that!" Elle shut her mouth abruptly. Evan took a step closer to her.

"You-you weren't?" she breathed. He shook his head and took another step forward. She could feel his soft breath on her face now.

"Just shoosh," he whispered. She closed her eyes, and a pair of lips joined hers.

* * *

"I've liked you for a really long time Elle." He tried making his voice sincere, but he didn't want to sound so sincere that it turned out sarcastic. He let his eyes roam the lake, looking for his dad. "I honestly don't know what I would do without you."

Elle smiled.

"Really?" she asked quietly, snuggling up to him. He spotted his father on the far side of the lake. He knew that his dad was waiting until Evan put his hands around Elle, signalling that he'd told her.

"Evan?" she asked again. "Did you really mean that?" She was now looking at him worriedly. He put his hand around her and nodded. His father disappeared from the edge of the lake.

"Of course I did, love." He felt Elle sigh into his shirt, and he started rubbing her back subconsciously.

_What have I done?_

_

* * *

_She sat on her bed thinking. Evan had actually told her that he liked her. As in, it was real. She wasn't dreaming. She'd had countless dreams in the past imagining the time when he had told her that he liked her. None of them had ever played out like this.

There had been one where she fell in the lake, he heroically rescued her, and then when she was lying in bed 'unconscious', he had told her that he was in love with her. Then there was one where the Death Eaters had gotten her, and he came and saved her, flown into the sunset with her, and told her he loved her. There was that one where he had been flying outside her bedroom window in Gryffindor Tower, and had serenaded her. Somehow, the whole of Hogwarts was flying behind him, and then, with the aid of a sonorus charm, he had announced to the whole of Hogwarts that he loved her.

Compared to all that, this was relatively tame. It made her wonder whether his feelings were genuine.

_But_, she thought, _why would he tell me that and kiss me if it weren't true?_ The only thing she came up with was that he'd been coerced into telling her.

_But why?_ What was his motive? Why would he do something like that? Elle shook herself, clearing her head of the impure thoughts. This was _Evan_ she was talking… well, thinking about. As if he would do something like that! One of the reasons that she'd fallen for him was because he was so honest. Also because he was cute. But mostly because he was so honest and true.

Maybe he was just like that. Maybe it was just his style to be simple. Yeah, that was it. Evan was just a simple guy. Elle smiled. She could live with simple.

* * *

"What have I done?!" he whispered to himself. He had just involved her into everything. There was no turning back now. It just wasn't _fair_! She was just an innocent girl that had fallen for his charm. He seriously did not understand what she saw in him. He was a backstabbing, lying, cheating piece of scum.

_Your father made you, Evan._

But if he'd had courage, he could've stood up to his father! He could've defied him anytime he'd liked, God knew that he didn't believe in any of the bullshit that his father came up with.

_Defying your father means defying the Dark Lord, Evan._

He growled. It came to this every freaking time! He had just made his mind up to tell his father that no meant _no_, that he couldn't play the brilliant, perfect Slytherin boy anymore. He couldn't fool anyone else into thinking that he cared about them.

Even if he did. The worst thing about the whole affair with Elle was that he was _actually_ starting to develop genuine feelings for her. He was actually starting to think about her often, actually starting to wish that she was there with him, actually starting to like her.

Of course, if he were to tell his father that, his father would scoff and inform his offspring that if you were smart, then there was no such thing as real feelings, and that was that.

* * *

Jay walked through the portrait hole to where Maggie sat in and armchair finishing her Arithmancy homework.

"Maggie!" Maggie looked up, and upon seeing that it was Jay, cleared some space for her to sit next to her on the chair.

"What happened?! Did you listen to their conversation?" Jay rolled her eyes.

"They went off for a walk around the lake, so I couldn't exactly follow them close enough to hear exactly what he was saying. But I kind of got the drift from standing behind a tree." Jay stopped.

"Yes?" asked Maggie, anticipating Jay's findings. Jay sighed.

"First he just blabbered a lot. Something about trees, the water, ice cream, the _grass_…? Do you remember when Robby talked about grass and broken up with Selena? Well, I thought Evan was going to tell Elle that he wasn't interested in her, and I think that's what Elle thought as well, because then she started to tell Evan that she wasn't interested in him or something. There was a lot of finger pointing, and then he kissed her." Maggie squawked, and the pile of books on her lap fell off the chair.

"_He kissed her?!_" Jay nodded gravely.

"Very much so. It was disgusting. Then they sat there cuddling and talking about mushy stuff. But get this. There was this random guy on the other edge of the lake, and he watched them for a while and disappeared." Maggie sighed.

"I'm not too worried about a random guy. I'm more worried about Elle. You realise that she's now practically dating a _Death Eater_?!" Jay sighed.

"She won't pay any attention to us anymore, you realise that?" Maggie frowned.

"Of course she will. Elle's better than that, she knows we're best friends." Jay raised her eyebrows.

"Really?" Maggie sighed.

"Are you more worried about him being a death eater, or her not talking to us?"

"Both! She's our best friend, she _has_ to talk to us!"

"Jay, she will."

"Or so you say."

"Jay!"

"Maggie! Just ask her, okay? She'll come rushing in later to tell us; ask her then." Maggie stared at her for a minute, then sighed.

"Alright, I will."

* * *

"JAY! MAGGIE!!" Elle screamed, as soon as Jay and Maggie walked into their dormitory. "He told me! _He told me!!_ He actually _likes_ me!! _Me!!_" She screamed again, and flopped onto the bed. "I think I am in heaven." She sighed and smiled.

Jay and Maggie exchanged looks. Elle looked up at them.

"What? Aren't you guys at least a _little_ bit happy for me? Evan, the guy that I am in love with,_ likes_ me. Likes _me_!" Jay sighed.

"That's great news Elle, it really is." Maggie bit her lip. "Are you going to be with him all the time now?" Elle sat up and shrugged.

"I dunno. Maybe. Probably. How could I not?! He's gorgeous!" she sighed and flopped back down onto the bed. There was a moment of silence. Elle sat back up again, and looked from Jay to Maggie.

"What? What's with all of the secrecy?" Maggie sighed.

"Are you going to be sitting with us at all? Are you going to be here with your friends, or with _him_?" Elle frowned.

"I think he's my boyfriend, Maggie. That means I have certain duties towards him. I can't just up and leave him." Jay frowned.

"Maggie never said anything like that. You're perfectly entitled to spend your life grovelling after him. She was just asking if you were planning on spending any time with _us_, your best friends." Elle stood up.

"I'm not _grovelling_ after anyone, Laura. For your information, he totally made the first move on me."

"Not that we want to know. You're going out with a _Slytherin_!" commented Jay nastily.

"Him being a Slytherin doesn't change _anything._" interrupted Elle angrily. "Secondly, he's my almost _boyfriend_. He comes first in my life now. If I have time, I might talk to you, but I don't have time for just my friends any more. You guys aren't first priority. _He_ is. So don't think you're the centre of the universe, because you're _not_." Jay and Maggie stared at Elle, dumbstruck. Maggie sniffed, and a tear escaped her.

"Glad to know that you think of us in that way, Elle." She sniffed again, and ran from the room, into the common room. Jay snarled.

"Nice going, Elena. Real nice." She glared at Elle once more and went after Maggie.

"FINE!" yelled Elle. "See if I care! That's how it should be, and that's how it is and if you can't take the truth, then that's your problem!" Selena appeared in the doorway of the dormitory, with a quizzical look on her face.

"What?!" growled Elle. Selena rolled her eyes and disappeared. Elle sat on her bed with her face in her hands, shaking with anger. They hadn't had any respect for her wishes at _all_. They'd basically just breezed over the information. They'd accused her of having a Slytherin boyfriend! So what if he was Slytherin?! That didn't make him any less human!

_But did I do the right thing?_ Was sacrificing her strong, bottomless, six year friendship with her friends the right thing to do? For Evan?

_But if they were my friends, they would respect the fact that my loyalties lay with Evan now!_ She cursed. It was their own stupid fault for expecting too much out of her. She was only human! She had to fit in time with Evan, and now she had to make time for them as well?! She still had all of her school work to do, and it was NEWT year as well. It was silly and completely unrealistic to expect her to fit in time to go gallivanting around and giggling with those two.

Guilt settled into her stomach even as she thought that. She couldn't ditch them. It had been barely two hours ago that she'd woken Maggie up at the ungodly hour of six in the morning. But Maggie had still sat down with her and had calmed her down, telling her that Evan liked her and that it was stupid of her to think that he didn't. She was such a good friend. And even if Jay was tough, and sometimes a bit mean, she knew that she only cared. The way Jay had so protectively defended Maggie…

_She'd done that to me once._

Elle bit her lip. But Jay hadn't done that just then. Jay had argued against her then, trying to prove her wrong. And why? Because she wasn't spending enough time with them…

She got up to go and look for them.

* * *

"Maggie?" Maggie looked up to see Jay sitting down beside her.

"Hi," she said, smiling softly. Jay sighed.

"I know that what Elle said hurt you." Maggie nodded, and looked up again.

"She didn't mean it." Jay rolled her eyes.

"Come _on_, Maggie. She definitely meant it."

"No I didn't." Maggie and Jay's heads swivelled around to see Elle behind them.

"What?" asked Jay coldly. Elle sighed and came and sat in front of them.

"I was wrong."

"Damn straight you were." Maggie nudged Jay. "I mean… yeah. You were." Elle's lips twitched, but she was solemn again.

"I shouldn't have said that, and I didn't mean it, Maggie, I honestly, seriously, didn't. It just… popped out. I do want to spend time with you guys. I honestly do. And I'm going to _make_ time to spend with you two. I know that mostly I'll be with him now-"

"_Now?!_" spluttered Jay disbelievingly, but Maggie nudged her again and she fell silent.

"-but I seriously am going to find time to be with you. Even for just five minutes a week. I will try, I promise." Jay glared at her, but Maggie answered for her.

"Thanks Elle, we appreciate that." Elle smiled and got up.

"I'll see you two later?" she asked.

"No way you lying, two-faced-"

"Of course Elle," interrupted Maggie, smiling. Elle left.

"Who does she think she is?!" spluttered Jay, as soon as Elle was out of hearing range. "She says she'll _try_ and make five minutes to spend with us in a _week_, because she'll _probably_ be with Evan from _now on_! Like she isn't already with him twenty four hours seven days a week!!" Maggie nudged her for the third time.

"Deal with it, Jay. She's trying at least."

"If that's her trying, I'd hate to see her when she's really _trying_." Maggie rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay… I'll leave her, for now at least." Maggie smiled.

"Good."


End file.
